July 19, New York - As the world enters the final five year-sprint towards achieving the 2030 Agenda, Forus and its members are sounding the alarm - and offering a path forward. 

At the ongoing UN High-Level Political Forum in New York the Forus network started the day on July 18 with the virtual launch of the new Forus report: “Unlocking the power of localization and multi-stakeholder partnerships to rescue the SDGs”. With contributions from across 20 Forus members and a panel discussion with representatives from CODE-NGO (The Philippines), CONGCOOP (Guatemala) and TANGO (The Gambia), the session moderated by VANI (India) and launched by Forus Director Sarah Strack looked at stories and experiences on localisation processes and efforts across the network.  

"With just five years left to 2030 and only 17% of SDG targets on track, we face a convergence of global crises threatening to derail progress. Yet, hope lies in localisation — in the power of communities, inclusive partnerships, and the innovation of local actors who are already driving resilience and results," said Jyotsna Mohan Singh, Advocacy Officer at Forus and Lead Author of the report. 

"As Alicia Bárcena reminds us, the 2030 Agenda must be our opportunity to transform development — toward equality and sustainability,” said Alejandro Aguirre Batres, Executive Director of CONGCOOP, Guatemala. CONGCOOP supports Indigenous and rural communities in strengthening their political participation through civic education, participatory budget monitoring, and social audits. These efforts aim to hold public authorities accountable and promote transparency in development spending. 

Their work goes beyond monitoring: they also advocate for progressive tax reform in Congress and highlight the insufficient taxation of elites as a structural barrier to financing sustainable development. 

Ndey S. Bakurin, Executive Director of TANGO, The Gambia, shared TANGO's Role in SDG localisation. TANGO advocates for civil society by representing CSOs in National Steering Committees and technical bodies, ensuring their voices influence policy. It engages government stakeholders to strengthen civic participation in development planning. To promote collaboration, TANGO convenes multi-stakeholder meetings on the SDGs, supporting dialogue between CSOs, government, and development partners — including during key events like the Summit of the Future.  

For instance, on SDG 5 (Gender Equality), “TANGO supports a comprehensive response to gender-based violence (GBV), including legal representation and access to justice. It promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), economic empowerment, and livelihoods for women and girls. TANGO also leads social and behavioural change campaigns, builds the capacity of community-based CSOs, and provides technical and financial support for grassroots initiatives. Additionally, it works to strengthen data collection systems to better monitor progress on gender equality,” shared Ndey S. Bakurin, Executive Director of TANGO. 

The event set the stage for a dynamic conversation about how civil society leaders can work together towards Agenda 2030 at the event "CSO Engagement in Voluntary National Reviews – Focus on SDG 16 & 17" spotlighted insights from several Forus members such as NNNGO (Nigeria), ADA (Asia), PDA (Pakistan), and INFID (Indonesia) and was chaired by Zia Ur Rehman, from the Asia Development Alliance. 

“We must rethink the global aid system” – Zia Ur Rehman (ADA) 

Zia offered a powerful critique of global funding priorities, highlighting how distorted financial flows from South to North are undermining development:  

“There is an excessive amount of funding going from the Global South to the North for armament- that could be used for SDG implementation.”  

“On average, Asian governments spend just 6-8% of GDP on the SDGs - that's not enough.” 

“Debt servicing is the other big challenge. The amount spent on repaid debt could provide basic health and education. We need to rethink the global aid infrastructure system - it is non-democratic and exploitative.” 

His call to overhaul international financial flows echoed a growing frustration among CSOs about the lack of democratic decision-making and accountability in the SDG process.  

“Voluntary National Reviews must become tools of truth, not symbolism.” – Oyebisi Oluseyi (NNNGO)

In his intervention, Oyebisi Oluseyi, Executive Director of the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO), drew on key findings from the newly released Forus report which looks at 10 years of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) – what worked and what hasn’t. 

“As we approach the final five years of the 2030 Agenda, we must ask: Are voluntary national reviews driving real accountability and progress, or are these symbolic exercises?” 

From an analysis of 366 VNRs submitted since 2016, the report reveals: 

Oyebisi warned that without genuine civic engagement and public accountability, the SDG monitoring and evalutation process risks becoming a performative exercise. 

What is working - what needs to change 

The Forus report highlights several promising examples: 

But these examples remain exceptions - not the norm. 

Forus and its members propose 5 key recommendations to rescue the SDGs: 

“If we fail to reform the VNR process now, we risk repeating old mistakes - delivering more reports than results,” Oyebisi concluded.

And as Zia reminded the room, “without democratic financing and civil society inclusion, the SDGs are a broken promise.”

The Forus network message at the HLPF is clear: 

Unlock local power. Rebuild partnerships. Rescue the SDGs.  

Read the newly released Forus report here